Reader Digest Reflection

Reader Digest Article From The June Issue : What do you do when the mother you love is no longer of Sound Mind?


This article is about a person's mother suffering from Alzheimer's diease, having being the eldest among her siblings, she have to put down her work and visit her parents whenever her mother's illness deteriorates. Most of the caring of her mother was shouldered by her father, who was also old and weak. Taking care of her mother was not an easy task for her father, from feeding her to making decisions on her behalf. The author then realised the seriousness of her mother's illness. The things that she could do on her own was quite limited. To some extent, she had even forgotten what a toothbrush was, and coaxing was required for her to finish this simple task.

Because of her illness, had resulted her to wake up in the wee hours of the morning, deciding what to do next. The author and her father would take turns to observe her, no matter how tired they were. And also because of her illness, she had caused much trouble to her family and her neighbours. Seeing how much her father had done for her mother, the author wondered if her father was a saint.

Knewing that they could not continue going on like this, the author made research and found a lodge which was suitable for her mother to stay in. The author knew this was the best choice they could made for her mother as it was affordable for the author and her mother will be well taken care of. But then her father considered for a period of time and thought that he was not ready, including her mother. He believes that she could still recognise her despite her diease, but the cruel fact was that her mother's intelligence had been reduced to a two-year old's. The final decision was made after a long decision. The author and her father decided to move her mother into the lodge, and making frequent visits before moving her permanently.

In my opinion, to a certain extent, Alzheimer's diease can be cruel to anyone who suffers from it, and this could be a burden to any family who does not know how to take care of their elders properly, and it can consume time and energy drastically. However, from another point of view, this illness has shown the true love of life. The existence of this illness is a test to show people that they really cherish their loved ones even in the darkest times of their life, and are willing to rescue their loved ones from difficult situations. I think that what the author did was perhaps the best choice for her parents. She knew her father does not have the ability to take care of her mother till the arrival of death. And he would be less worried if he knew the author's mother was in good hands.

This article has also showed the hesitation of making decisions in crucial moments for there were still moments where the author and her father was sandwiched between "yes" and "no" decisions of whether to move her mother into the lodge or not.

Done By : Chan Wai Hong(17)